Purple – use it carefully

Purple is considered to be a symbol of royalty, wealth and rich sophistication and represents wisdom and spiritualiy. Purple does not often occur in nature, it can sometimes appear exotic or artificial. It is associated by royalty and nobilty because in the past it was affordable only by the elites.

This color stimulates the brain activity used in problem solving. If it is overused in a common setting it is associated with putting on airs and being artificial. Use it carefully to lend an air of mystery, wisdom and respect.

Purple color profile

Name: Purple (from Old English word “purpul” wich originates from Latin “purpura”)
Hex triplet: #800080
sRGB: 128,0,128
HSV: 300″,100%, 50.2%
Additive: Red + Blue
Color Wheel: The color between magenta and violet.

In color theory a “purple” is defined as any non-spectral color between violet and red (but excluding violet and red themselves). According to color theory violet and indigo are not purples but they are purples according to common english usage. People mix them up!

Purple is a symbol for: nobility, envy, sensuality, spirituality, creativity, wealth, royalty, nostalgia, ceremony, mystery, wisdom, enlightenment, arrogance, flamboyance, gaudiness, mourning, exaggeration, profanity, bisexuality, sexuality confusion, pride, Scorpio, May, November, riches, romaticism and delicacy(if it is a light purple), penance.

In Nature

• Purple needlegrass – the state grass of California
• The Purple frog – a new species of amphibian discovered in India in 2003
• Purple Honeycreeper

In Human culture

Academic Dress

In French academic dress system Purple (usually a hue close to Royal Purple) appears in the academic dress of people who graduated the field of Divinity. It is also worn by high academic officials (like University Presidents, Head of Faculty, Rector, etc) regardless of the filed in which they graduated.

Anti-apartheid movement

The Purple Rain Protest was organised against apartheid that took place in Cape Town, South Africa on Sept. 2, 1989. A police water cannon with purple dye sprayed thousands of demonstrators.

Astronomy

Pleione, a star star in the Pleiades, is sometimes called Purple Pleione because, being a fast spinning star, it has a purple hue caused by its blue-white color being obscured by a spinning ring of electrically excited red hydrogen gas

Games

Purple is the color of the ball with 10-point value in Snooker Plus. In pool, purple is the color of the 4-solid and the 12-striped balls.
Calendars

In the Thai solar calendar Purple is associated with Saturday.

Geography

The Purple Mountain is located on the eastern side of Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, People’s Republic of China. Its peaks are often found enveloped in mysterious purple clouds at dawn and dusk, hence comes its name “Purple Mountain”.

Heraldry

Porpora, or purpure, was not one of the usual tinctures in European heraldry, being added at a late date to bring the number of colors plus metals to seven, so that they could be given planetary associations. The classic early example of purpure is in the coat of arms of the Kingdom of León: argent, a lion purpure, as early as 1245.

History

Byzantine empresses gave birth in the Purple Chamber of the palace of the Byzantine Emperors. Therefore, being named Porphyrogenitus (“born to the purple”) marked a dynastic emperor as opposed to a general who won the throne by his effort.

In China, the Chinese name of the Forbidden City literally means “purple forbidden city” 紫禁城 with first character 紫 meaning purple (even though the Chinese Emperor himself wore yellow, which was considered in China to be the imperial color).
Literature

As a result of its association with royalty and luxury, the term purple is often used to describe pretentious or overly embellished literature. For example, a paragraph containing an excessive number of long and unusual words is called a purple passage (see Purple prose).

Microbiology

In April 2007 it was suggested that early archaea may have used retinal, a purple pigment, instead of chlorophyll, to extract energy from the sun. If so, large areas of the ocean and shoreline would have been colored purple; this is called the Purple Earth hypothesis.

Military

In the United States and United Kingdom militaries, purple refers to programs or assignments that are “joint”, i. e., that are not confined to a single service such as the Army or Navy, but apply to the entire defense establishment. Assignment to one or more joint billets is required for promotion to flag rank (Rear Admiral and higher) in the U.S. Navy. Officers in joint billets are sometimes referred to as “wearing purple” (the phrase is purely metaphorical as there are no purple uniforms in the U.S. armed forces or UK armed forces).

During and before World War II, the Japanese used a code known as PURPLE or the Purple Code. The Allies’ military successes in the Pacific theater depended on the fact that the Japanese did not know that Allied cryptographers had broken the code.

The Purple Heart is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President of the United States to those who have been wounded or killed while serving on or after April 5, 1917 with the U.S. military.
Parapsychology. People with purple auras are said to have a love of ritual and ceremony.

Politics

In British politics, purple is used to represent the United Kingdom Independence Party, a eurosceptic party wanting to pull Britain out of the European Union.

In the politics of the Netherlands, purple (“paars” in Dutch) means a government coalition of right-liberals and socialists (symbolized by blue and red, respectively), as opposed to the more common coalitions of the Christian-democratic center-party with one of the other two. From 1994 to 2002 there have been two purple cabinets.

In United States politics, a purple state is a state equally balanced between Republicans (currently symbolized by red) and Democrats (currently symbolized as blue)

Religious text

In the Byzantine Empire, Gospel manuscripts were written in gold lettering on parchment that was colored Tyrian purple.

Sexuality

Today the color purple is also known as a “pride” color among the gay community.

At the 24 June 2007 San Francisco Gay Pride Parade, Yahoo passed out 3 7/16″ in diameter round plastic stickers with a picture of a gay man or woman imaged as one of the Yahoo Gay Pride avatars against an HTML/CSS Purple background that said Out, Proud, and Purple.

In the mid 1970s, there was a gay piano bar at 2223 Market St. between Noe and Castro in San Francisco called the Purple Pickle.

The purple hand is an LGBT symbol that derives from an incident which occurred on Halloween night (31 October), 1969, when sixty members of the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) and the Society for Individual Rights (SIR) staged a protest at the San Francisco Examiner in response to a series of news articles disparaging LGBT people in San Francisco’s gay bars and clubs.
Sports

The National Basketball Association’s Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns and Sacramento Kings use purple as their primary color, though the Lakers formerly used the term “Forum Blue”, in reference to their old arena The Forum. The National Hockey League’s Los Angeles Kings use purple as one of their primary colors. In Major League Baseball, purple is one of the primary colors for the Colorado Rockies. In the National Football League, the Minnesota Vikings and Baltimore Ravens use purple as main colors. The Australian Football League’s Fremantle Football Club use purple as one of their primary colors. In Association football (soccer) Italian Serie A club Fiorentina and Australian A-League Club Perth Glory both use purple as one of their primary colors. Melbourne Storm from Australia’s National Rugby League use purple as one of their primary colors. In the NCAA, the LSU Tigers primary team colors are purple and gold. Royal Purple is also one of the official colors of East Carolina University.

Transportation planning

The MBTA Commuter Rail in Boston is designated with purple markings, and thus is sometimes called the Purple Line.

The LACMTA Purple Line is a subway that goes down part of Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles that it has been proposed be extended all the way down Wilshire Boulevard to the Pacific Ocean.

Use it in the following combinations

Purple +  White

Feng Shui

In Feng shui the color purple is the color associated with any of the directions as a beneficial color. Be sure not to use it if it doesn’t fit with the rest of the room. It is a color that generates good chi, if you add purple you add energy. Since it is a stimulating color it is better not to use it in bathrooms and kitchens where it can enhance the negative energies of these rooms.

Gain more recognition

Add purple in the home office, south sector of your house or living room. It is especially good if you are in a power position such as a priciple or owner of a business. Adding it to south wall will bring you prestige and further yout ambitions for fame.

Have more creative or have successful children

Use it for your children’s little home office (maybe where he studies) to enhance his success. Also if your child is suffering from ill health purple is a beneficial when painted on the East wall. To be more creative Feng Shui sais you should paint it on the West wall. If your children is an artist or actor who is craving recognition you should paing your South wall purple.

Dealing with money

Wearing purple clothing or ties is a good choice for sales people, bankers or anyone who deals with money.

Quick Feng Shui Facts
North: Luck for Wealth, prosperity associated with your job and business opportunities
South, Living Rooms: Gain more recognition, prestige and further your ambitions fame
South-West: Boost the romance energy
East: It makes you more healthy
West: Brings creativity

Famous people who liked Purple

It was the favorite color of such people as: Cleopatra